Barbados

It is my pleasure to join with the preceding speakers in congratulating you on your election to preside over the sixty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Barbados delegation extends its appreciation to your predecessor, Her Excellency Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her leadership of the sixty-first session and also takes the opportunity to offer its formal welcome to Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. Since its independence in 1966, Barbados has been actively participating in the formulation of international policy on a number of issues of universal concern and promoting the centrality of the United Nations in the global development debate. We are proud to have made our contribution to the critical negotiating processes on the development agenda. Much work, however, needs to be done. Permit me to use this occasion to identify those outstanding areas to which Barbados accords outstanding importance and where we consider that urgent results-oriented action must be taken by the international community. I refer specifically to the effective and comprehensive implementation of the global partnership for development as set out in the Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius International Strategy; the provision of stable, predictable and adequate financial resources for the implementation of development commitments; the creation of a more enabling international environment that would facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by a majority of developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable among them; the recognition by the international community of the importance of providing continued support for the needs of middle-income developing countries; the implementation of existing global agreements on climate change as well as the early adoption of an ambitious and comprehensive post- Kyoto agreement; the protection and sustainable management of the Caribbean Sea; the successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade negotiations, with development as a central component of its outcome; the promotion of international cooperation on tax matters; the need for United Nations reinforcement of its commitment to assist all Member States in their efforts to combat the problems associated with the trafficking in and trans-shipment of illegal drugs, as well as the consequent increase in violent crime; and, finally, the need for progress on Security Council reform and for sustained emphasis on revitalizing the Economic and Social Council. The gap between promises and implementation continues to frustrate our achievement of the full range of internationally agreed development goals. The level of international cooperation and resources committed by development partners has been woefully inadequate. Small island developing States, for example, have had, to date, to assume the majority portion of the implementation burden of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy, despite the fact that these goals were determined by the consensus of the entire international community. Similarly, the needs of middle-income developing countries were not adequately addressed through the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development, and they continue to be deprived of the vital development support they require to complete the transition. Next year’s Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development must seek to redress this situation. There remain only eight years before we reach our target date of 2015 for the achievement of the MDGs. We must identify effective strategies to transform Member States’ political commitment to the MDGs into results-oriented, concrete action. We must forge strategic partnerships, not only within and across national borders that encompass varying levels of development and economic prosperity, but also among the private sector, the public sector and civil society. It can no longer be denied that climate change is an alarming phenomenon that requires focused attention and urgent and decisive global action by the international community. I warmly commend the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his initiative to convene the high-level event on climate change on 24 September. The presence of so large a number of heads of State and Government at that important session is a clear indication that the grave dimensions of the problem have been recognized and the need for bold political leadership fully understood. If we continue to delay action, we will be judged harshly, and deservedly so, for callously placing the inheritance of future generations in greater jeopardy. For today, we may have choices; tomorrow, they will not. Barbados is a small, low-lying island State, highly dependent on its coastal and marine environment for its economic activity. For its people, the stakes could not be higher. Climate change not only represents the most serious challenge to our sustainable development, it also threatens our very survival. Prime Minister Arthur of Barbados said at the 24 September meeting that there exists no reason scientific nor political for delaying an immediate response to this global crisis. Barbados and other members of the Caribbean Community have taken steps, at the national and regional levels, to develop and implement climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and plans, largely from our own resources. However, the most effective unilateral adaptation strategies will be futile in the absence of decisive global action to reduce harmful greenhouse gases emissions and to address climate change in a comprehensive manner. Our leaders have underscored the imperative of collective action to address climate change, with the United Nations at the centre of the search for lasting solutions to that problem. In December, our negotiators in Bali must seize this moment in time. The international community has yet to complete the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, with an outcome that has development at its core. While trade liberalization can assist in that process, much more is required if sustainable economic development is to be achieved in the developing world. We firmly believe in a multilateral process, which will not only cater to the aspirations of the more developed countries, but will also address the needs of developing countries, especially those with small, vulnerable economies such as ours. I urge the international community to proceed with the multilateral trade negotiations with a view to reaching a successful and mutually beneficial outcome. Barbados and the other countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are neither major suppliers of nor demand markets for illicit drugs. Yet, because of our geographical position and external factors that are largely beyond our control, we find ourselves affected by the illicit trafficking in drugs, small arms and light weapons and their constant companion, transnational organized crime. As small countries with limited resources and severe vulnerabilities, we depend on international cooperation to counter those threats. The presence of the Caribbean Regional Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Barbados, which served a total of 29 States and territories and provided significant technical assistance, was extremely important to the Caribbean region. We are deeply concerned about the decision taken unilaterally in Vienna to close that Office, and we are not at all convinced that it will make our region safer from these very real threats. On the contrary, the studies published earlier this year by the UNODC and the World Bank, on drugs, crime and development in Central America and the Caribbean, clearly demonstrate the need for an enhanced international effort in the region. It is our sincere hope that this unfortunate decision will be reversed as a matter of urgency and that the United Nations will once again engage the Caribbean region, through the reopening of the Regional Office in Barbados. The issue of reform of the Security Council has been under consideration by the General Assembly for several years. Member States have expressed their views, and group positions have been formulated, but firm decisions have eluded us. It is now time for political compromise in the negotiation of an acceptable solution. Barbados will continue to participate actively in this process. Gender equity and the empowerment of women are critical to development at both the national and international levels. There is a need to improve the way in which gender is treated within the context of the United Nations. It is crucial that the proposal to establish a new gender architecture be further discussed at the intergovernmental level and that all concerns be addressed and taken into consideration before a final decision is made. Any new structure must give due prominence not only to normative and advocacy issues, but also to issues of development, operational activities and adequate resources. The deepening of the regional integration process is critical to the ability of CARICOM countries to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by changes in the global community. Having established the Single Market in 2006, our efforts are now focused on mechanisms to bring the Single Economy into effect through a process of phased implementation. The Single Economy will facilitate further integration of our production and financial sectors, the coordination of our economic sectoral policies, the convergence of macroeconomic policies, the building of a regional capital market and the harmonization of monetary and fiscal policies. Functional cooperation has been a central theme of the Caribbean Community since its inception. We believe that, as small nations with so much in common, our best means of advancement lies in sharing our resources, experience and expertise to address mutual concerns. Health, education and, more recently, security are our foremost areas of resource pooling and research. Our region has the distinction of being one of the first to have eradicated polio and smallpox. A fortnight ago, the region convened its first summit to specifically address chronic non-communicable diseases, which have become the major causes of morbidity and mortality. A stable, peaceful and prosperous Haiti is essential for the effective functioning of the Caribbean Community to which it belongs. There is a continuing urgent need for substantial support from the international community to assist Haiti in consolidating and strengthening the commendable progress that it has made to date. A prime requirement is the further extension by the Security Council of the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti to include a focus on peacebuilding, judicial reform, institutional support for the provision of basic services, and border management. We must directly address the humanitarian and socio-economic needs of Haiti if the majority of the population is to be lifted out of poverty and if the underlying preconditions for threats to peace and security in the country are to be removed. This year, many countries around the world, including Barbados, commemorated the two-hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The horrors of the slave trade particularly the notorious middle passage were of such huge scale and intensity that it can truly be considered one of the earliest crimes against humanity. That experience must never be repeated. To bring closure to the criminal activity that was racial slavery, we also need to bring equity to the emancipation process. Addressing the controversial issue of reparations is essential to the attainment of those objectives. This is not the first time that a discussion on reparations has taken place and that decisions have been made. During the nineteenth century, Europeans accepted and enforced multiple forms of reparations. Delivering the Wilberforce Lecture in the United Kingdom earlier this year, Prime Minister Arthur proposed the establishment of a William Wilberforce educational fund. Barbados encourages all those countries that participated in and benefited from this iniquitous practice to support that important initiative. In so doing, they will be paying tribute to the courage and the moral convictions of all those who campaigned tirelessly for the end of the slave trade and of slavery, and at the same time they will be supporting the continuous evolutionary experiment in human relations represented by the ethnic pluralism of Caribbean societies. In international affairs, a multilateral approach is the best means for countries to fully and effectively address the world’s most pressing problems. It is our collective responsibility to make sure that this Organization, the epicentre of multilateralism, is reformed and revitalized to make it more accountable a transparent and effective instrument in the service of the development efforts of all its Members. Development is the key to sustainable international peace and security. In our quest to guarantee the primacy of development on the global agenda, we must make certain that the United Nations is sufficiently well funded to meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable among us, to support the aspirations of middle-income developing countries and to facilitate the transition to developed-country status of those who are poised to make that transition. The disproportionate allocation of regular budget resources away from the development agenda must be reversed without further delay. There can no longer be a deficit in the world’s development performance. We must all demonstrate the political will necessary to ensure that. It is a task from which we are not at liberty to abstain.